Which camera to buy? A very long breakdown list of the good the bad and the ugly.

[Giuseppe Pugliese]

Originally Posted by Tim Polster

Couple of points:

I agree and disagree about judging footage in many different mediums. Sure you want to see what the camera makes without any compression, but the fact is, none of your clients are going to see what you see in the edit bay. Everything has to be delivered and most delivery formats will be compressed.

This is one of my many points about this, they aren't getting 10bit 422 half the time. If it doesn't look good compressed even when my other footage with half the resolution bit space and color depth does... that's a problem no way to say it isn't.

As for lens depth, that wont bother me, because I have a 35mm adapter.

I'm really leaning towards the hpx300 I just have to sound annoying because I know the camera could be better, and I wanna push to make Panasonic realize they need to do something about it.

[Matt Gottshalk]

Originally Posted by David Heath

The main Sony press conference isn't until 2pm tomorrow (Sun 19 April) so I think it's premature to say only one new product is being announced. I suspect you mean the PDWF800 - Sony Business Solutions & Systems - Featured - but that's more of an upgraded variation to the existing 700 than a brand new model. But we'll see tomorrow.

I'd say they DEVELOP a format over time, rather than constantly bringing out new ones, and that is seen by many as a big strong point in their favour. The original Betacam format was launched in 1982, and you can still buy a player that will replay the original recordings - as well as newer ones - DigiBeta, SX, IMX etc.

But you'd have to look far and wide to find a player to view an "M" cassette (Panasonics rival from that time period), or even an MII or D3 cassette from much later. You certainly won't be able to buy a new deck that will be able to play any of them.

With the continued development into HDCAM and now HDCAM SR, it says a lot about the basic Beta form for archive.

I'll go with Dan's argument on Sony and their format of the month:

Sony formats:

Sony D-1
DV
DVCam
Hi-8
Bsp
DigiBeta
IMX
HDCam
HDCAMSR
HDV
SXS
XDCam
XDCam HD

What was that about development? I noticed that you mentioned a BSP PLAYER...what about a BSP RECORDER? No new ones there.

[David Heath]

Originally Posted by Matt Gottshalk

What was that about development? I noticed that you mentioned a BSP PLAYER...what about a BSP RECORDER? No new ones there.

The player I mentioned - which is current, you can buy it today - not only plays BetaSP, but the even earlier non-SP tapes. A modern machine, which will play current Beta sized tapes (such as DigiBeta, IMX) but also those from generations ago, right back to 1982 and the first such recordings.

The idea is that a broadcaster could migrate from (say) BetaSP to DigiBeta, but still be able to play their entire past and current library on the same equipment. Nobodys suggesting making modern recordings on Beta or BetaSP - but the ability to replay an archive is a different matter. See Sony : J-30 (J30) : Product Overview : United Kingdom - other models have SDI capability.

But if you were one of the broadcasters who recorded to MII a much shorter time ago, the only option has been to copy all the material to another format. I hope they got it done whilst they still had working machines.

[Barry Green]

Originally Posted by Hanno di Rosa

HPX 300 looks more like ENG type to me but its going to be available this summer!

It's available now.

And I believe the quality will be more than ok for broadcast...

All NBC owned & operated stations are going with the HPX300, and some ABC affiliates are buying 'em too. Broadcasters seem happy with it.

I would simply wait as long as possible, who knows what 2009 brings?

I always advise to wait until you need something. Then, when you need it, get the best that's currently available and don't look back.

[Barry Green]

Originally Posted by David Heath

And having used the SDHC/adaptor with the EX3 I really don't want to go down the P2 route.

Panasonic just announced the new "E" series of cards, which result in basically slashing the price of P2 to around 1/3 of what it was before. The new cards are 50% faster than SxS cards, and substantially less expensive than SxS. Still not as cheap as SD cards, of course, but that's what AVCCAM is for.

[Gary Nattrass]

Great news Barry and thanks for the update I was holding back on the 301 for the moment to see what sony were doing but this makes me happier to buy three of them rather than a PDW-700.

[David Heath]

Originally Posted by Barry Green

Panasonic just announced the new "E" series of cards, which result in basically slashing the price of P2 to around 1/3 of what it was before. The new cards are 50% faster than SxS cards, and substantially less expensive than SxS. Still not as cheap as SD cards, of course, but that's what AVCCAM is for.

There's no question that this is good news, especially if you've already bought into the P2 workflow. And if you've bought into SxS, it may mean a strong impetus for a future SxS price drop.

But having now trialled the SDHC/adaptor route, it's still my favoured option. It allows for about 15 hours of 35Mbs on recording on 16 separate cards for about £400 - enough for an entire project, and to allow the data to stay on the cards until post is well underway. Even with the price drop, 15 hours on P2 cards is still a huge amount of money.

Frankly, it's frustrating. A short while ago, when the effective choice was an EX3 versus an HPX171, I'd say the EX3 was the winner by a mile in almost every respect. The 301 has made the choice far more difficult - also 1920x1080 resolution, decent ergonomics. Overall, and excluding the 1/3" v 1/2" chips, the 301 has a lot going for it as a camera - I just wish it had the media options of the EX.

[Paulo Teixeira]

B&H has the HPX300 for $7,700 and you may find local dealers with a similar price. Combine that with the cheaper P2 cards and the value is outstanding.